Morrissey Waiting For His Day In Court

Morrissey is trying to clear his reputation and prove he’s not a racist by filing a libel lawsuit against a former NME editor and the magazine’s publisher.

The singer’s lawyers appeared at England’s high court Monday and Tuesday in hopes of convincing Britian’s most senior libel judge, Mr Justice Tugendhat, that the case should receive a high court trial before a jury. The lawsuit names former NME editor Conor McNicholas as well as IPC Media, according to the Guardian.

Morrissey’s lawsuit stems from a November 2007 interview with NME, which he claims portrayed him as a “racist and blatant hypocrite.”

The interview includes the following quotes from the former Smiths frontman:

“The gates of England are flooded. The country’s been thrown away. … With the issue of immigration, it’s very difficult because, although I don’t have anything against people from other countries, the higher the influx into England the more the British identity disappears.”

A written submission to the court from Morrissey said the quotes in question resulted in a “barrage of press” and that “question marks over my being a racist have never since receded.”

A lawyer for NME, Catrin Evans, said that Morrissey’s “own actions” since the NME article was printed have resulted in more recent accusations of racism. One example is his interview with the Guardian in September 2010 in which he called Chinese people a “subspecies.”

According to the Guardian, Tugendhat is expected to make his decision about the high court date within weeks.